OLD Second National Bank of Aurora Sells 880 Shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS)

OLD Second National Bank of Aurora reduced its stake in Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 56,150 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 880 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley makes up approximately 1.5% of OLD Second National Bank of Aurora’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $5,236,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Waterfront Wealth Inc. grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 14,613 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,363,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt grew its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 60.1% during the fourth quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 2,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $248,000 after purchasing an additional 999 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 123,938 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,556,000 after acquiring an additional 6,269 shares during the last quarter. Telos Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Telos Capital Management Inc. now owns 141,153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,163,000 after acquiring an additional 4,447 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley in the 4th quarter valued at about $87,000. 84.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $115.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. TheStreet raised shares of Morgan Stanley from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Morgan Stanley from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $97.79.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of MS traded up $0.73 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $90.81. 1,232,598 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,837,944. The stock has a market capitalization of $147.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $69.42 and a 12-month high of $95.57. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $88.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $84.81.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $15.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.42 billion. Morgan Stanley had a net margin of 9.57% and a return on equity of 10.87%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.70 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Morgan Stanley will post 6.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.74%. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.93%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.41, for a total value of $393,345.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 93,134 shares in the company, valued at $8,140,842.94. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Morgan Stanley news, CFO Raja Akram sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.41, for a total value of $393,345.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 93,134 shares in the company, valued at $8,140,842.94. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman James P. Gorman sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.30, for a total transaction of $8,730,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 350,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,555,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 201,155 shares of company stock worth $17,564,394. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Company Profile

Morgan Stanley, a financial holding company, provides various financial products and services to corporations, governments, financial institutions, and individuals in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. It operates through Institutional Securities, Wealth Management, and Investment Management segments.